EN World City Project: Protecting the City (Guard Submissions)

[Krug]

Perhaps we should name the Dwarvish clans; two or three? The Hammersmith clan, obviously. Anybody got names for the other clans? How do they fit in? Perhaps a clan that's less war focused and more artificer-engineering focused? Who see trading as helpful to their invetions?

I'm sure clans would work together for mutual benefit. Over the years, the blood the clans will intermingle, but since it's dwarves we're talking about, it's going to be a slow process.

 

[Conaill]

A couple quick comments:

1) Shouldn't the Dwarven Regulars, the Wolfgard and the Outland Rangers be under Sebastiano Palmora as well? Having a unified command would be *much* more efficient. At worst, we could have just one of them report directly to the council instead, and that could be a long-standing bone of contention. Sounds appropriate for the Dwarves: they got orders from Kul-moren to report to the Council, so they just ignore Palmora.

2) In any case, don't forget to integrate the Wolfgard. They're not going to be into too much hierarchy, so they would answer to Sebastiano Palmora, or perhapsd directly to Lady Kelvin.

3) Castellan Stangus should be below Lady Kelvin, but not at the head of the Warders.

4) Where does Kul Moren, pop. 500, get the manpower to permanently station 40 well trained fighters in Mor's End? One of those numbers doesn't seem right.

5) Payrol for the army: if you include room and board, you can probably lower the daily pay

6) The Guard should get payed slightly higher than the Watch: it's a more prestigious position, with Elite Guard being chosen almost exclusively from the City Guard. We could have some sort of choosing ceremony, where private guards get to compete to join the City Watch, City Guards are chosen from the City Watch, and Elite Guards are chosen from the City Guard.

 

[Knightfall]

chart update 3/18/03
keep the changes coming

gary

Umm, I think the 60 barbarians number needs to be reduced a little. That's a lot of barbarians that may or may not remain loyal to the city.

KF72

 

[jdavis]

The Rangers also have duties as judges and representatives of the law that have nothing to do with the military, they are sort of in a different catagory. The Dwarves would probably have to fall under the general when it came to the defense of the city but a blurred line of command would make for several good plothooks and create some interesting tension between the General and the Dwarven commander. Mercenaries would fall under the general but decisions on hiring mercenaries would be council buisness.

I will probably do a more detailed budget for the military just to see how it iwll effect what taxes will need to be like but I doubt most DM's would care about exact wages and perks so I'll keep it simple. The number given is a good rough estimate for figuring out just how much tax burden there will be. The defense forces here are more than there would be in a city in a more civilized area, there is added cost for safety in the wildlands. There could be plothooks taxwise and I wanted to give a good idea how much tax burden a force of this size would be. I think the gate toll(from the government thread) would be a good example of a extra tax designed to support a larger than average military presence. I didn't figure anything in for the hiring of mercenaries as that would probably be negotiated by the Guild of Guards.

 

[Krug]

I think perhaps change to Golem to some other Clay construct, and even reduce the 'Houses' to 3 or 4.

For Conalli's point 4) I think it's because of the vested interest Kul Moren has in seeing Mor's End thrive. The troops were possibly promised since Mor's End was much younger and the number remains there for now. Furthermore, there might be an agreement that Mor's End will protect Kul Moren if the latter faces any threat.

Kul Moren might also be a trade passage for dwarves who wish to trade. 800, however, sounds all right to me. It might be a heavily fortified Dwarven fortress.

Also, I think there should be a team of 'runners' to explore the warrens. It sounds like a huge security risk to have them right underneath your city. Perhaps a group of 20?

 

[Ruavel]

hello my militarily-minded comrades...



I thought I'd post a bit of an update on what I've put together so far on the Outland Rangers... Obviously this is not 100% complete so please don't be too scathing, but nonetheless constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged...

Here goes...

Outland Rangers

Functions and Mandate: The Outland Rangers basic function is patrolling the lands of Enheim, protecting rural communities from foreign and domestic threats, dealing with poachers in the realm, and acting on the Council of Warders behalf in matters involving simple disputes between citizens. When it comes to all matters outside the walls of the city of Mor’s End the Outland Rangers are the law except in the most grievous circumstances.

History: Many years ago it became apparent that the city’s legal mechanisms were having no impact on the populace of rural Enheim. This prompted an agreement between the Council of Warders and the then impressively manned Outland Rangers by which any legal and investigative matters that arose outside the walls of Mor’s End would fall under the jurisdiction of the rural protectors. At the time this agreement was struck the Rangers reported directly to the sovereign lord of Mor’s End, and when initially approached on the issue the Outland Chief, a man of questionable loyalty, agreed to the Councils proposal because he saw the arrangement as an opportunity to advance his own quest for power.

For several years the Outland Chief guided and governed the land outside the city walls subtly and to his own ends and this minor crisis finally came to a head when he tried to restrict the flow of food from the land into the city then, when that failed to gain him the political clout he wished for, held two small farming communities to ransom. An alliance of several of the Outland Ranger lieutenants thankfully deposed of their rogue leader and eventually a new agreement between the Council and the Rangers was established.

Now the paramilitary Rangers answer directly to the Council of Warders in the city of Mor’s End. They maintain a presence in all but the most delicate of Council meetings, having negotiated to keep a non-voting representative present in Council at all times. This task currently falls to Marcus Fleetfoot, a pupil of the current Outland Chief until his flair for diplomacy led him into his position as the Ranger’s voice in the political machinations on the city and region.

Operational Practices: The Outland Rangers maintain four (4) small, independent groups that regularly move from one area of Enheim to another in an established, but flexible, pattern. The patrol patterns means that one the groups passes through any given part of the realm of Enheim every few days. Such a regular presence in the lands surrounding Mor’s End has been an effective deterrent against poachers and provides an excellent mechanism for the early detection of any incursion into Enheim by local savage races.

The Rangers are also responsible for protecting the fishermen and watersilk collectors of Lake Enoria. The economy of a significant portion of Mor’s End depends on the tendrils taken from the jellyfish farmed in the lake and rich local merchants have contributed to the creation of equipment that aids the Outland Rangers protect to city’s interests. The two smallest units of the rangers have been outfitted with items to make patrolling the waters of Lake Enoria easier, including a helm of underwater action for both units.

Chain of Command: Although the Outland Rangers are not a typical military organization they do try to maintain a structured order and chain of command. Given the large area of land they are required to cover and how few members they have, anything less than a well managed system would result in areas not being patrolled and matters not being dealt with for the people that depend on them.

As mentioned earlier, the Outland Rangers now report to the Council of Warders in the city of Mor’s End however it became apparent to Silanthe Kalatos (current Outland Chief) that the constantly requirement to report the activities of the Rangers kept her dealing with issues more pertinent to her aims, ie protection of the people of Enheim.

The current arrangement with Marcus Fleetfoot acting as her representative at all Council engagements allows Silanthe to focus her attention on the thing she loves (and does) best. A well organised use of animal messenger and whispering wind allows for regular communication between the Outland Chief and her representative, enabling the Outland Rangers to constantly update the Council on significant events in rural Enheim and provides the Council a means by which they can issue timely instructions to Silanthe rather than waiting for her to return to the city.

Outland Chief: Silanthe Kalatos (female half-elf drd3/rgr6)

Outland Representative: Marcus Fleetfoot (male human brd4/rgr1)

Outland Unit 1: Silanthe Kalatos (female half-elf drd3/rgr6); 1 x rgr2

Outland Unit 2: Rontaran Seldan (male human rgr4); 1 x drd3; 1 x rgr1

Outland Unit 3: Verdana Softstep (female halfling rgr5); 1 x rgr3

Outland Unit 4: Davmor Songsteel (male human drd3/rgr1), 1 x rgr2, 2 x rgr1

 

[Conaill]

Good work, Ruavel!

I would prefer the Rangers to have much less of a peacekeeping and dispute resolution role, and much more scouting and defense. Those functions don't seem to be terribly related.

At most, the Rangers could serve as mediators in disputes on a *voluntary* basis. I.e. the parties involved in a dispute can choose to let a Ranger settle it instead of taking it all the way to the courts in Mor's End (or just fighting it out among themselves...) But that's about as much of a peacekeeping role I would assign to them.

The Rangers have much more important things to do. The area around Mor's End is wild and full of dangers. The Rangers shouldn't be dragged into arguments between neighbors if there are bands of orcs or worse raiding the countryside!

I would also prefer to see some of the Order of the Winter Storm integrated into the Outland Rangers. They seem like the perfect guys for the job. If not, I would be in favor of dropping the Order of the Winter Storm altogether. We already have PLENTY of semi-independent groups.

 

[Ruavel]

Originally posted by Conaill
I would prefer the Rangers to have much less of a peacekeeping and dispute resolution role, and much more scouting and defense. Those functions don't seem to be terribly related.

At most, the Rangers could serve as mediators in disputes on a *voluntary* basis. I.e. the parties involved in a dispute can choose to let a Ranger settle it instead of taking it all the way to the courts in Mor's End (or just fighting it out among themselves...) But that's about as much of a peacekeeping role I would assign to them.

The Rangers have much more important things to do. The area around Mor's End is wild and full of dangers. The Rangers shouldn't be dragged into arguments between neighbors if there are bands of orcs or worse raiding the countryside!

I couldn't agree more, but I wrote this based on things I had read in this thread and the Government thread which indicated that was what was wanted... I can always give them a "task priority" in the Functions and Mandate section putting protection first, chasing poachers second and resolving disputes as their lowest priority...

I hadn't read much of the Order of the Winter Storm post, cos I wasn't sure if it's what the "Military Minister" had wanted (jdavis - if you're reading this your comments would be appreciated)... but it would be quite simple to include them...

that said, I'm also trying to keep this group closely associated with the government, even though they don't answer directly to the Armed Forces in any way... this would mean that the Order of the Winter Storm could easily exist independantly as could a druidic order in the region... just some thoughts...

Thanks for the comments Conaill... I like constructive criticism...

once I get some more feedback from people I'll reassess the submission and make any alterations that look necessary...

 

[jdavis]

Looks good.

The reason the rangers have judge powers is that who wants to walk two days to the city to decide who owns a cow. I am assuming that anything major would be sent back to the city. Of course there are times where justice must be served, in those cases the Rangers would be the ones to take the criminals back to town. What do you do when you are two days walk away from town and you have somebody accused of stealing a cow? you call for one of the Rangers to decide guilt or not and dole out suitable punishment. What do you do if the farmer murdered his wife in a fit of rage? You call a Ranger to take him to town. If there are 10 silk fish poachers on the lake and only two rangers there, then they will not have the option of escorting them all back to town, and they don't have the option of finding help, their justice would have to be swift and set a example. Most of the cases they would be called for would be "whose piglet is that?" cases, not something the city courts would care about dealing with anyway.

The Winter Storm would be perfect for armed patrols up and down the caravan routes and for attacking pockets of orcs or goblins when they are found. There are not enough city troops to actually attack anything, the Winter Storm would be a perfect tool for projecting power into the wilderness and driving foes away from the city. They would probably only work (or be paid) when there was a reason for them so they would need to find things to do when the city didn't need them, probably drinking away the profits from the last counter attack against the goblins or royal caravan they escorted through the swamp.

 

[GladiusNP]

I'm going to add my vote to those who aren't thrilled about 'The Order of the Storm.' They don't really seem to add anything, except for complicating matters futher. The logic behind allowing a self-governing, independent force of trained warriors to work within the city is pretty flimsy – would the U.S. accept a trained group of Russian red army expatriates, and let them keep their gear in exchange for fighting for America? Of course not. (This is also my problem with the Whitecloaks in the WoT series – seems unrealistic to have a massive army just sitting around, unaffiliated with anyone).

Granted, the Pope did have his Swiss Guard, but they have / had a strong tie to the church through their faith. (All must be catholics). The Byzantines did use Norsemen as guards, but I’m not sure on how widespread this practice was.

On the other hand, I like the Kul Moren dwarves, since they make sense – and have genuine ties to the city, as do the outland Rangers (do any of these guys ride horses?). The Order of the Storm also begins to drift well outside of Mor’s End, what with involvement and ties to the Northern kingdom. The fewer detailed links we have to the outside world, the easier / more flexible this city will be for use in a campaign.

Anyway! Enough criticism. With regard to power projection beyond the walls, this is the perfect role for adventurers in Mor’s End, sent out to investigate what the rangers discover. Marcus Fleetfoot may have the power to do this, issuing warrants for the arrest of particularly notorious bandits, hiring adventurers to sort out a yak-man raiding band, or just hunting down a particularly cantankerous owl-bear. Good quick source of work if the DM is short on time / ideas.

Here’s my idea for the tower of the Kul Moren dwarves.

Built as the original watch-tower to protect the first settlers at Mor’s End, the Kul Moren garrison is the north-most tower in the city. Originally a small keep, the Kul Moren tower now houses the 40 dwarven members of the city watch. Being somewhat shorter than the other towers on the wall, it also has a fairly squat base – it’s probably the strongest tower. The stonework is also noticeably better, being granite that was imported from the north. It’s a round tower, and has a platform on top with permanent slate hoardings stretched out over the ground below.

The first floor is an open room, after a small door (only 5 feet), which leads out to the town, and is always guarded by two dwarves. A ladder on the opposite wall to the entrance leads up to a platform which runs along the far wall – providing a plkace for archers to fire upon those who enter. The ladder also lead onto the second floor, which is mainly used for storage (especially siege defenses, such as buckets of sand, torches, arrows, bolts, some weapons), but also has two doors to the top of the wall. The ladder continues up to the top platform, where a ballista has been mounted, and the hoardings are.

Below the first floor is the barracks, with a common hall with fifty beds, a dining hall (the ladder runs into this), and a kitchen, all built below ground. This basement is lined with cobblestones, even on the walls. It’s usually kept poorly-lit, but the dwarves never have much trouble. Off-duty guards are usually found here, or in their favoured tavern in the dwarven section of town.